Fictional glass artist and AI 'ghost store' scam: elderly Australian consumers in the crosshairs

The small coastal town of Port Fairy in southern Victoria has only one glassblower, and his name is Robert Gatt. But starting about a week ago, he has been fielding calls and emails from strangers every day, all asking about someone else—a female artist named "Eleanor Whitmore."

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News), among the callers were people who claimed to have purchased a set of handmade glasses from "Eleanor Whitmore" but had not received a receipt; others, choking back tears, described how the female artist's husband had just died and asked Gatt to help them get in touch with her. Gatt, who has been practising glassblowing in Port Fairy for more than three decades, told ABC News: "Well, I'm the only glassblower in Port Fairy and I'm not dead, and neither is my wife." (I am the only glassblower in Port Fairy; I am not dead, and neither is my wife.)

"Eleanor Whitmore" does not exist in reality. ABC News contacted local artists, the artist advocacy group Regional Arts Victoria, and the local shire government to which Port Fairy belongs; none had ever heard the name, and there is no record of it in multiple electoral rolls.

The source of all this is a "ghost store" scam website built using AI. The website claims to sell a set of eight handmade nautical-themed blown glasses for A$250, with the page featuring AI-generated images and using the fictional story of the artist's husband's death as emotional packaging.

Meg Dalling, assistant policy director at the Consumer Action Law Centre, told ABC's state morning program that such scams "look completely legitimate, are usually built with AI, but their sole purpose is to take consumers' money without delivering any product." "It has a very compelling, emotionally heart-rending story, but it's actually all just fake," (The story is deeply moving and tear-jerking, but in reality it is all fake,) she added.

The technical infrastructure of the scam points overseas. According to ABC News, the fraudulent website's registered operator is a company headquartered in Hong Kong that is believed to be engaged in AI software development. Its promotional advertisements have appeared on Australian local news websites, running alongside ads for AI stock-trading bots, handmade chopping boards, and weight-loss products—most of the thumbnails carry AI-generated labels, but the chopping board advertisement was not marked.

Gatt told ABC News that the callers were clearly quite elderly and were deeply convinced of "Ms. Whitmore's" plight; the entire scam "appears to be targeting older people."

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) declined to disclose the number of "ghost store"-related complaints received this year, but confirmed that the agency had issued a public warning on the issue last year and had asked e-commerce platform Shopify and social media giant Meta to review and take action against the suspected operators. According to the ACCC, this led to more than ten suspected "ghost stores" ceasing operations.

Dalling believes such enforcement efforts are far from sufficient. She told ABC News: "Individuals will never be able to tackle this." (Individuals will never be able to deal with this problem alone.) She noted that digital platforms need to take on more responsibility and curb the placement of such advertisements, but there is currently no "silver bullet" solution; only by establishing new legal and systemic fraud protection frameworks can consumers be fundamentally protected.

She also reminded online shoppers to watch for several warning signs: Does the website list an Australian Business Number (ABN)? Are there signs of AI generation in the images?

The scam has also exposed the collateral damage AI fraud inflicts on real creators. Kate Gerritsen, director of communications and engagement at Regional Arts Victoria, told ABC News that a bad online shopping experience can put consumers off buying genuine artwork, while fictional marketing narratives appear cheap and hollow compared with the real-life stories behind genuine creators.

"It takes away from the real and beautiful stories, particularly in regional Victoria, about artists connecting to their country, and artists creating beautiful products for sale," (It erases the real and moving stories, particularly in regional Victoria, about artists' connections to their land and about them creating beautiful works and selling them,) Gerritsen said. She added that the rise of AI has already caused numerous problems regarding artists' consent, attribution, and transparency, "and this fabrication of fraudulent artist identities is just another example of AI's harmful practices."

Gatt himself only opens online purchases to customers who have visited his studio in person. He told ABC News that the experience has made him cautious about shopping online himself: "It does start making you wary of buying online," (It really does make you wary of online shopping,) he said. But he said he is not worried the incident will hurt his business: "I don't think I'm implicated at all, but you always worry," (I don't think I'm implicated at all, but you always have some worries,) he told ABC News.

The town of Port Fairy has only about 3,000 residents. Gatt stressed that the genuine connection between customers and artists is something online stores cannot replicate. "We've worked on the philosophy that people want to buy a piece of the artist, so we like to chat with our customers and explain what we've done," (Our philosophy is that people want to buy a piece of the artist, so we like to talk with our customers and explain to them what we have made,) he said.

Several key details of the scam remain to be clarified: the number of defrauded consumers and total losses have not been made public; no further information has been disclosed on follow-up enforcement efforts after the ACCC warned Shopify and Meta; whether the Hong Kong company, believed to be engaged in AI software development, currently operates other similar fraudulent websites; and the specific role of AI technology throughout the fraud chain all remain unclear.